Displaying items by tag: France

France/Syria: Lafarge SA and three of its former executives are appealing against accusations of crimes against humanity. The Court of Appeal is expected to address the indictment in late June 2019, according to the Agence France Press. The former executives involved include Bruno Lafont, former chief executive offcier (CEO) of Lafarge, former safety director Jean-Claude Veillard, and one of the former directors of its Syrian subsidiary, Frédéric Jolibois. The Presecutor General has supported some arguments of the defence team.

If the appeal is succesful the legal case will focus instead on the financial aspects of Lafarge’s conduct in Syria between 2011 and 2014. It has been accussed of financing terrorism through indirect payments to extremist groups to keep its Jalabiya cement plant operational after the outbreak of war in Syria.

France: The government is preparing to approve an extension to the quarry at Ciments Calcia’s Gargenville plant. The extension will cover an area of 74 hectares near the communes of Guitrancourt and Brueil-en-Vexin, according to the Le Parisien newspaper. Local environmental activists are preparing to contest the decision.

France: Cemex has supplied over 0.3Mm³ of ready-mixed concrete and more than 0.55Mt of aggregates for the Grand Paris Express project over the past three years. It has used mobile on-site concrete plants and a local network of 21 plants in Île-de-France to support the large-scale railway infrastructure scheme.

"The Grand Paris worksites present a daily challenge to deliver ready-mix concrete on time, supply aggregates to our production sites, and move earthworks from the stations and tunnels out of Paris,” said Benjamin Lecendrier, Major Projects Director at Cemex France.

The Grand Paris Express worksites on metro lines 11, 14 and several sections of line 15 South have involved most of Cemex’s staff in the Île-de-France region, with four full-time operatives working in a dedicated unit. Given the scale of operations, logistical organisation is a challenge, with the twin demands of delivering construction materials and removing 40Mt of earthwork by 2030.

France: Bertrand Collomb, the former president of Lafarge, has died at the age of 76 years. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the building materials company from 1989 to 2003 and was later its president until 2007.

Collomb joined Lafarge in 1975 after various roles in government. He became the CEO of its North American subsidiary in 1985 before leading the company as a whole. Notable achievements during his tenure included the acquisition of the UK’s Redland and Blue Circle. Lafarge also set up a Chinese joint-venture in 1994 before many of its Western competitors.

France/Serbia: Turkey’s Fons Technology International, part of Dal Engineering Group, has released information about recent projects for CRH. In France a replacement clinker cooler and roller crusher was commissioned at the Lumbres plant in February 2019. The project started in October 2018 and the upgrade has a capacity of 1500t/day. In Serbia a Fons Delta clinker cooler and three roller crushers were commissioned at Popvac plant in January 2019. This project started in September 2018 and it has a capacity of 2200t/day.

France: Fives Group has tested using its FCB Rhodax cone crusher to process concrete wastes resulting from the demolition and deconstruction industry. During an internal innovation competition, the crusher was used to sort hydrated cement paste from the aggregates and sand. The development will enable cement producers to reuse the paste as a cement additive. Ready mixed concrete producers will be able to make new concrete using the recycled aggregates and sand allowing for a reduction in CO₂ emissions. Fives hopes to turn demolition concrete waste into a valuable commodity.

France: Vicat’s sales have risen due to its acquisition of Ciplan in Brazil. Its sales rose by 4.7% year-on-year to Euro600m in the first quarter of 2019 from Euro573m in the same period in 2018. However, adjusted for the acquisition, its sales remain stable. The group’s cement sales revenue fell by 1.4% to Euro302m when similarly adjusted. Its concrete and aggregate sales rose by 6.6% to Euro225m.

“The rise in prices across all zones has resulted in stable consolidated sales at constant scope and perimeter, despite strong volume erosions in Turkey as a result of the 2018 lira devaluation and of the consequences of highly adverse weather conditions in California. The integration of Ciplan in Brazil is on track amid conditions that are stabilising after several years of major consumption falls,” said chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Guy Sidos.

By region sales were strong in France, stable in the rest of Europe and Africa and poor in the Americas, Asia and Turkey. Poor weather in California dragged down sales in the US, competition was reported in India and an economic slowdown was reported in Turkey.

France: The General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCRF) has fined Ciments Calcia Euro0.67m for late payments to other businesses. France Manche, the local subsidiary of Eurotunnel, and insurance company MMA were also fined. The ceiling for such fines was increased to Euro2m from below Euro0.4m in late 2016 and is applicable to invoices issues since then. Ciments Calcia is a subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement.

US: National Cement is tendering for a new 5000t/day production line at its Ragland plant in Alabama. The subsidiary of France’s Vicat has reportedly had a permit for the upgrade since 2006. The plant operates one dry process kiln with a production capacity of 1.9Mt/yr.

France: Cemex says that it will match the donations made by its employees to help restore the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The donations will be handled by the Fondation du patrimoine (French Heritage Foundation), a private organisation dedicated to saving French cultural and natural heritage. The 800-year old cathedral was devastated by fire on 15 April 2019.

In addition, Cemex will help the reconstruction efforts through its range of technical and specialised products and services, the availability of its research and development centres based in Biel and Paris and assistance with material specifications and mix designs through its laboratory services.